


The Return

by Jalec



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 09:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2423279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jalec/pseuds/Jalec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and Stiles's reunion when Derek comes back from a deployment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Return

**Author's Note:**

> They have a daughter in this, named after Stiles's mother.

Stiles is the first person at the airport. Claudia Stilinski-Hale, his and Derek's daughter, hangs off him, constantly wriggling around moving from one side of him to the other like a hyperactive, little monkey. Her dark brunette hair is reminisce of Stiles and all of Derek's family – himself, Cora, Laura, and Talia. She's dressed in leggings (she proudly announced to Stiles one day that she absolutely  _hates_  skirts and dresses) and a baby blue coloured shirt that reads 'My dad is  _your_ hero too!' with a picture of an American flag below the text.

When she sees a miniature merry-go-round which has a helicopter, a bright pink car, a grey car, and a boat, she immediately runs to the helicopter and jumps in, beckoning excitedly for Stiles to come over and put some money in the thing. After he does, making sure to give her a few extra pieces of change so she can top it up when it finishes, he sits himself on a seat at the back of the terminal – a seat that is the closest to Claudia but the furthest away from the doors that Derek will be coming through.

He lets out a deep sigh as his leg begins to bounce, nervously, but also a little in anticipation and excitement. 11 months it's been. Derek left the day after Christmas last year and now it's late November. He's home in time for his birthday and for Christmas, which Stiles has something...special prepared for.

A woman on her own has walked in from the back-end of the terminal. She's alone and she dabs a tissue to her eyes and her nose every so often before she finds a seat on the row parallel behind the one Stiles is sitting on.

 _Really?_ _You have every single seat to pick from and you have to sit next to me?_

As if she can hear his thoughts, she turns her head to look at Stiles. Her eyes are puffy and red, which makes the green of her irises stand out. She coughs before she speaks. "Who are you here for?" She asks.

Stiles doesn't particularly want to answer. His leg is still bouncing and he's still keeping half an eye on Claudia who is now sitting in the boat pretending to steer.

"Um." He clears his throat before he answers. "My boyfriend."

"Aw, that's lovely," she says as she sniffles and wipes her nose again, although it's not because she is awed by the relationship, it's something else. She points to Claudia who is in a world of her own. "Is she you and your boyfriend's?"

Stiles nods, then smiles, proudly. A few seconds go by before he realises the woman is still looking at him.

"How about you? Who are you here for?"

"My husband," she announces. She raises the tissue to her face once more, this time Stiles notices her eyes beginning to water.

"Are you okay?"

She responds with a weary smile. "Yes, thank you. I should have been picking up my brother too. He..." Her voice trails off as she replaces the crumpled tissue with a fresher one and then dabs her nose with it. "He died over there. They were in the same squadron. Imagine the luck."

Stiles doesn't really know how to respond. His leg has been bouncing for the past few days and the last few nights have been sleepless ones because he feared something like that could happen to Derek. He's been scared about whether he is okay. He knows he's not dead; he's not gone. Nobody has knocked on his door and stood there in complete silence with a regretful look on their face. No... But death isn't the only thing that can happen in a war zone. Injury...non-lethal...Physical or mental. Derek has always been a strong person, Stiles keeps telling himself. But then again, most people who go to war are.

"I'm sorry."

She sniffles. "It's okay." A sweet smile overcomes her face as she look at Stiles. She is quite a few years older than him. She would be about 40. "We lived our life." She looks back at Claudia as she adds, "We didn't have any kids. I'm thankful for that now. I wouldn't want them to have to go through this." She turns her head away from Stiles signalling the end of the conversation, much to his relief.

Luckily some other people have made their way to the terminal seats so that awkwardness doesn't pervade the space between the two of them. A whole family appears; a mother, a father, and some teenage kids. They must have an older son on deployment.

+++

Every single seat is now filled. A handful of people are standing around, others are waiting at nearby stores. Nobody else looks as nervous as Stiles.

Claudia has managed to find herself another kid to play with – a young boy who seems to be showing her how to race one of the merry-go-round's cars. Stiles chuckles to himself when he sees them. She's going to be like Derek. _Strong_.

An announcement comes over the PA:  _Flight E900 arriving at gate 8 has landed. Passengers preparing to depart the aircraft. Please stand clear of the terminal doors._ _  
_

Stiles's breath hitches as he hears it. A few people who were standing in front of the doors have shuffled over out of the way.

Only five minutes or so have passed before the large doors swing open, although to Stiles it feels like hours. He has been constantly fidgeting. When the first few soldiers, all donned in their uniforms with their close-cropped haircuts, heavy boots, dog tags, begin to walk out to applause and cheers from their families, Stiles beckons Claudia to come and stand by him.

One...Two...Three...Seven people walk out. They all spot their families immediately and rush towards them where they are embraced and kissed and smiles, tears, and laughter are plentiful.

Hostesses are marshaling people who have met up with their families out of the way so that others can more easily see theirs. About half the people that were waiting have now left, which means that at least half the soldiers on the plane have disembarked too.

As someone who is oblivious to the small girl walks past Claudia, she snuggles one of her small hands into Stiles's. He looks down and smiles reassuringly at her. One would expect a kid to be tired of waiting but she is bouncing up and down and is constantly smiling. Even though Stiles isn't. 

More soldiers walk out... Stiles notices a woman who runs towards another woman and embraces her before planting a sloppy kiss on her lips.

Another one comes out...another...another until there's only a few people, including Stiles and Claudia, left waiting.

_Why is Derek taking so long?_

When someone else comes out and walks off with their family, Stiles begins to think the worst. Maybe something did happen? Maybe it happened so recently that they didn't have time to tell him? Maybe they kept him on for some reason? Can they do that?

There are three bunches of people left including Stiles and his daughter.

Another person walks out...she runs to one of the families.

A young man in a wheelchair is wheeled out to someone who must be his girlfriend.

There's nobody left but Stiles and Claudia left now. He hears boots clicking up the floor. He can't see it but they sound heavy, like Derek's do...or would.

A tall figure walks out through the large doors. But it's not Derek.

Stiles puts his free hand to his mouth. He wipes it, sloppily, revealing bloodshot eyes when the skin of his cheeks is also pulled down.

Claudia looks up at her dad who looks like he's about to break down.

"Where's daddy?" She asks, the smile having dropped from her face. Stiles grabs her hand tightly. He looks down at her - a million thoughts are running through his head and he doesn't have an answer to her question.

The rest of the people, staff included, seem to have moved out of the terminal. When Stiles takes a step closer to the doors, he hears similar sounding footsteps to the last person who came through.

He takes another step closer so that he can see down the aisle behind the doors.

That's when he sees him. Derek.

Claudia drops her hand from Stiles and begins bounding towards Derek as soon as she sees him. As soon as she is in arm's length, Derek swoops her up in his arms and brings her in for a tight hug as they spin around like they're in a movie. A giant smiles grows on both of their faces. Claudia giggles and Derek laughs as he places a kiss on her cheek. She returns the favour by kissing Derek's nose while giggling and holding his face in her hands, gleaming with a giant smile.

Derek puts her down beside him once he sees Stiles. Stiles who looks like he has tears in his eyes. No, he definitely _does_ have tears in his eyes.

Neither of them say anything, they just walk towards each other like something is pulling them together.

Stiles reaches out. He doesn't hug Derek. He clasps Derek's face in his hands and pulls him in for a kiss. A long, overdue kiss that they are going to have to make up for with many, many, many more.

Derek moans into it. He's missed this. Stiles has too.

They only break apart when Claudia tugs on Derek's pant leg.

"Can we go now?"

The two fathers laugh as Derek picks her up once more and rests her on his waist.

"Yea," Derek says with a large smile. "Let's go home."


End file.
